


Partners

by Sky_kiss



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Fluff, No Spoilers, Robot/Human Relationships, Soul-Searching, cuddly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 23:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky_kiss/pseuds/Sky_kiss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You know, if you think about it, this is almost like our first vacation together." Fluffy Far Harbor ficlet. No spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Partners

**Author's Note:**

> Whaaaaaaaaaat. Didn't we neeeeeeed pointless fluff? Of course.

If she had to describe Far Harbor in one word it’d be “silent.” Beautiful, in its eerie sort of way, but too damn quiet. Maybe it was the fog, or the people or...something...but the place had an air to it. What was worse, it was infectious. 

And it’d taken Valentine of all people. 

He’d been silent as a church mouse since they left Acadia. The moment they’d stepped outside the observatory he’d been reaching for a cigarette. He hadn’t so much as looked at her. The rest of the journey he’d lagged at least three steps behind. After so long together it was uncomfortable. 

They walked side by side, always. 

Nora pushed what remained of her food from one side of her plate to the other. Safely within the confines of Far Harbor the air between them didn’t feel half so oppressive. Music played somewhere in the background, filling much needed space. Someone was having a conversation upstairs. Someone else was making love. 

The downside, she supposed, of living on a dock. There wasn’t much in the way of privacy. A hint of color flooded her cheek and she forced herself to shift her attention elsewhere. An odd sort of longing settled in her chest. Perhaps not to rut in the dark but...something like it. 

She missed her partner. Valentine had felt far away the moment they stepped on the boat.

Nick was brooding. For the most part, it didn’t bother her. God only knew she’d done her share of it back in the Commonwealth. Nick had borne it with aplomb then. She could only hope to do the same now. 

He had that distant look again, the one that almost became his default expression during a particularly difficult case. If he were a little more human, she’d say his eyes dilated, glaze, whatever the hell you liked. The point was, he wasn’t there. For the first time, she was certain that wasn’t a good thing. Nora pushed the remains of her dinner to the side, reaching across the table to take his hand. The bad one, subconsciously left resting behind his other arm. 

Nick jerked. The synth blinked twice, glancing around them in confusion until he came back to himself. Dinner; they’d been at dinner. She’d wanted lobster (or whatever the hell passed as it these days). He shook his head, brought his good hand up to scratch his chin, “I uh...sorry, sweetheart, must’ve drifted. Gettin’ sloppy in my old age.” 

“Don’t mind. Lets me admire how handsome you are.” 

The corner of his lips ticked up. If he had the capacity to blush, she didn’t doubt he would. For as often as he played (and was) the hardboiled detective, Valentine couldn’t handle a compliment. He melted. Nick cleared his throat, scratching a hand along the base of his skull, “That so?” 

“Mmm, the brooding noir hero,” she smirked, giving him a gentle squeeze. The skeletal fingers flexed in her grip, twining more tightly with her own. Not only welcoming her touch but holding it. She smoothed her thumb along the inside of his wrist, staring up at him through artfully lowered lashes, “Makes a girl’s knees a little weak.” 

“Dangerous prospect out here.” 

“I’m not worried. You’d carry me.” 

He smiled and she felt a little easier. Nick brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a chaste kiss to the back of her knuckles, “Wherever you needed to go, sweetheart.” 

She didn’t need to explain the feeling was mutual. At the end of the day, they both knew. It was half of what made them so damn effective. Nora took a small pull off her whiskey, glancing around the Last Plank. Even if the better part of the clientele was still prickly as hell, she liked the place. It had something most of the Commonwealth lacked. Ambience. Ties to the old world. Odd as it was, with the otherworldly fog just outside and all, it felt a little more like home. No matter how oppressively quiet it could be.

She liked being out here. The waves lapping at the harbor; Nick at her side. The world felt a little smaller. A little more sane. She leaned back in her seat, watching the lights out beyond the Hull, “You know. If you think about it. This is almost like our first vacation together.” 

He snorted, willing to play along. A good sign. It meant he wasn’t dwelling on his other problems, “Didn’t exactly spring for the Ritz, did I?” 

“It’s got character.” 

The Detective chuckled, making an idle gesture towards the door, “She says, walking out.” 

Nora snickered. In as smooth a move as she could manage (after so much booze, it wasn’t smooth as all) she slipped around the table, falling into his half of the booth. Valentine was already waiting. The synth tugged her into his side. If anyone else in the bar noticed they had the good sense to keep quiet. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, “We both know I’d never walk out on you, Valentine.” 

He wasn’t tactile by nature. Even as a human, she couldn’t imagine he’d ever been overly demonstrative. It just wasn’t his way. The moments he did put himself out there meant more because of it. Nick wrapped an arm around her waist, hugging her more tightly, “Afraid no one else would get your jokes?” 

“Afraid no one else is as damn old as the two of us.” 

They were both relics, after all. Was just damn good luck they happened to make such a fine pair. She let out a happy sigh, tucking herself inside his jacket. The fabric always smelt so pleasantly Nick. Like smokes and coffee and oil. And sea air. A more recent addition but not a bad one. 

A shrug was as close as she was going to get to an agreement. Valentine tucked his nose against her temple. Introspective again but not in a bad way. The worst, she hoped, had passed. Nora smoothed the backs of her fingers across his tie, relaxing her weight back against him, “You’re stuck with me, Nick. No matter what happens.” 

He laughed. To her dying day, she’d swear he sounded relieved. Grateful in a way he could never properly express. He hugged her instead, “What more could an old bot ask for?”


End file.
